Genuine
by Aquarian Poet
Summary: Returning home from a busy day, an unexpected sight leads one mare to realize what it truly takes to be a friend, and what it really means to be "genuine".


_**Author's Note**__:_ I have to admit, there was a point in time where I never thought I'd ship these two characters together. But I also have to admit that they would make a _really_ cute pair. Besides, our bookish pony could learn a thing or two from the persistently-perky presiding purveyor of pony parties.

_Say that ten times fast!_

_**Disclaimer**_**:** I don't own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I would not have the guts to toy around with the fanbase. I would completely cave in to your desires.

Needless to say, I would also probably get fired. Or sued.

"**Genuine"**

**By: Aquarian Poet**

* * *

><p>The day was nearing its end. Celestia's charge had long passed the horizon, and silently awaited her pearly replacement. The spotless, thinningblanket of blue had begun to give way to curtains of lavender, and the stars would soon make their nightfall appearance.<p>

Twilight Sparkle leisurely trotted forward under the dimming sky, her gaze traveling down the dirt path that wound along the edge of Ponyville. Occasionally her eyes would sweep to one side in a delicate motion, completely effortless to the unicorn who allowed the evening beauty to captivate her, drinking in the detail of the world around her in pleasant silence.

She inhaled softly, and her nose caught the scent of wildflowers wafting from the meadow off to her side. She felt herself smile, bucking her rump and sliding a purple pair of saddlebags further up her back, so that they would not catch in the breeze so easily.

The wind was always blowing down this particular path near the end of the day, tickling the leaves in the trees and catching in the surrounding brush. Not that she minded, really. It was a comforting and welcoming gesture, and she often enjoyed watching the leaves sway with an invisible touch, while feeling the delicate, ethereal brush combing through her mane.

An aura of magic flickered against the sparkle-shaped clip on her right saddlebag, and a long, wrinkled scroll flew out of the compartment, hovering in front of the unicorn's eyes. A once-over, and then a quick double-check was enough for her to put the scroll away with a sigh of satisfaction, her stride remaining unbroken.

Her errands were finished for the day, though perhaps not as quickly as she had originally planned. It was a fair distance back home, and it would be dark by the time she returned, where Spike would undoubtedly be waiting for her. She could easily envision his look of disapproval_,_ arms folded in impatience while one clawed foot tapped against the freshly-washed wooden floor of the Ponyville Library.

The studious pony had taken the effort of making an early start on her chores, even having written out her schedule while her assistant slept on the floor above. She had walked out the door and into the mid-morning darkness before a ray of the sun could begin to paint the sky in shades of morning pink, setting out with the hopes of finishing early.

It had taken most of the day, with her duties consisting of deliveries, a few exchanges, and even picking up new books for the public collection_._ Having taken more than a number of trips across Ponyville, and even one to a solitary hut in the Everfree Forest, there had been a lot of ground to cover, and her legs throbbed with the tender ache of a long day's work.

It wasn't always easy being a librarian.

Feeling a light tug on her midsection, she adjusted her bags once more, picking up the pace in her trot. Owlowicious should be waking up sometime soon, and would be wondering where she was, as would Spike before retiring for the evening. It would be best if she were to make it home quickly, despite her willingness to pace herself.

She smiled as her thoughts lingered down the path behind her. Her final trip for the day had been to Cheerilee's cottage, to deliver a reference guide on the founding of Canterlot. The sunny mare had requested the book to use in preparing a lesson for her students for the upcoming week, and though it hadn't originally been a part of her chores, Twilight had been willing to make the delivery herself.

Unsurprisingly, the warm-hearted earth pony had invited her in for a cup of tea merely seconds after she had reached the doorstep, a grateful gesture for her kindness. Though she was eager to return home, the unicorn had no other errands to run, and with the stiffness in her legs she had found herself hard-pressed to turn down the refreshing beverage, and a comfortable reprieve from her daily routine with a warm and welcoming friend.

Even more unsurprisingly, her stay had lasted longer than planned.

Continuing down the path, Twilight looked over towards the Town Square from across the river, where the various residents of Ponyville were attending to their final duties of the day. It was past dusk and it would be less than an hour before the moon would take charge of the sky, offering only a silent, muted glow to the ponies of Equestria.

She watched as ponies tended to their gardens in a comfortable silence, while others eagerly packed their boxes and threw tarps over their proprietor stands, closing their shops for the day. The unicorn allowed herself to grin as she watched Big Macintosh pulling a loaded cart towards the west side of Ponyville, with a small, yellow filly jumping around his hooves excitedly.

Her trot continued along a series of dirt-paved hills. Buildings faded to the side as she walked along the edge of the retiring city, to be replaced with trees that painted the horizon, leaving a beautiful abstract of leaves to separate the ground from the sky.

This route was one of her favorites to walk down throughout all of Ponyville, though it was still a fair distance back to her place of residence from where she was. It was common for her to return home from this path a little fatigued, and her legs ached with the labor of crossing through Ponyville multiple times that day. Still, this route tended to be more enjoyable than burdensome.

At least, since the first evening she had spent in Ponyville, when Spike had retold his _entire_ life story to an eager Fluttershy. That particular memory was quickly shoved away, the weary unicorn deciding to enjoy the rest of the way home.

It _was_ a pleasant route to take without a doubt. It was refreshing, even unwinding for the unicorn to take a walk during the day, and she had frequented this path many times for the scenery alone. The road itself was short enough that it wasn't too tiring, but long enough that every time she walked along it, she came to see or realize something different, something to distract her from her studies, or from any current worries. There was always something that she had never noticed before.

And it was when that thought crossed her mind that she looked to the side, and saw that something.

Atop of a hill not far away from the path, a single pony sat alongside a lone tree. Her back was turned to the trail, and she was resting on her forelegs, slouched forward and sitting alone while staring at the long-faded sunset, still and silent.

It was then that Twilight noticed that the wind had stopped blowing, leaving the pony's pink mane dangling in long, lifeless curls. There was no movement, no motion, nothing to bounce her curly hair.

It was Pinkie Pie, as still as a lifeless portrait painted against a fading, purple sky.

Her eyes creased with worry. It was getting to be very late, long after the time when the pink pony would be at home with the Cakes, or at least taking part of some special event around Ponyville. It wasn't like her to be alone at this hour.

Or ever, really.

For the smallest moment, her mind turned back to the path. Spike would undoubtedly be upset with her already-late return, wanting to get to bed, and Owlowiscious might even leave the library to go looking for her should she not return any sooner.

She felt her hooves moving of their own accord, as she left the path to tread through the shaded grass, her hoofsteps muffled to a whisper as she slowly walked up the hill.

She knew better. They could wait.

"Hey, Pinkie Pie."

The earth pony said nothing, but continued to stare out into the falling night. Twilight's voice faded quickly, leaving a heavy silence lingering between them. She moved up closer behind the pony, frowning in concern.

"How are you?"

Again, there was no reply. The wind picked up for all of a second, but long enough to cause Twilight to shiver in the same way that her heart had begun to quake at the sight of her friend, as motionless as a statue.

Finally, a single word reached her ears.

"Sad."

Twilight sucked in a breath, the air trying to escape her lungs when the weakness in her friend's voice reached her ears. It came out broken, cracked and fragmented. There was no happiness, the spark of joy that usually rang in the pony's voice was completely missing.

It was just one word, a word that expressed very little, and one that she would expect Pinkie Pie to say. But the wave of emotion it brought, just to hear it from this one pony, was nearly heartbreaking. The unicorn could only find her voice enough to reply, dropping down to a weak whisper of her own.

"Sad? How come?"

Pinkie Pie shifted on the spot, still unwilling to meet her eyes. Her head declined ever so slightly. The unicorn could feel her heart breaking within her chest, unable to remember her friend ever looking this down before. And yet, her single word described only a part of what Twilight saw before her.

Sad, but something else… something she couldn't quite put her hoof on.

Twilight took a steadying breath, calming her thoughts. It didn't matter what the issue was. She was her friend, and it was her job to see her friends through their problems. Besides, it never took much to cheer the perky pony up when she was glum.

A trip to Sugarcube Corner was usually what did it.

"Well…" Twilight started, putting a hoof on her friend's shoulder, her voice gaining confidence, "Is there anything that I-"

She froze.

She could feel Pinkie Pie's hoof moving on top of her own in a gentle caress. Her second hoof reached up to grasp the stricken pony's foreleg, and the two slowly pulled it down in front of her, the forward movement causing the unicorn to fall to her haunches. Twilight felt her breath catch as Pinkie Pie reached back for her second hoof, bringing it around her shoulder and across her chest, pressing both of them against her heart as she leaned back into the embrace.

"You could stay here… with me."

Twilight felt her heart catch within her throat, pounding with newfound worry against the pink pony's back. Pinkie Pie was acting in a way she had never seen before. Tilting her head to the side, she could see Pinkie Pie's ever-curly locks of hair, limply dangling forward and obscuring her face in an unreadable shadow.

She thought of what she could say, anything she could do to pull her out of this sorrowful spell. But nothing came to mind, only finding herself locked around this pony in a numb, nervous embrace_. _Whatever was happening to her friend was not an everyday issue. Something was very wrong.

Something that a trip to Sugarcube Corner would not solve.

A flicker of magic, and her saddlebags slid off of her back, coming to rest at the side of the tree. The two sat quietly together, shaded in veils of cobalt as the last of the light began to leave the sky. Twilight's ears caught the chirping of a bird off in the distance, swiveling slightly to catch the sound of a bid farewell to the ending day.

Sighing, she rested her face against Pinkie Pie's mane, slowly becoming aware of her breathing matching the silent pony's. The smell of a flowery shampoo mingled with the cool night air, lulling the unicorn into a peaceful state.

"You like my parties… don't you Twilight?"

Twilight blinked, taken aback by the desperation behind the unexpected question.

"I… I do, Pinkie Pie." she replied, pulling her face away. She felt the pony in her arms relax a little.

"I love parties. I love watching ponies having fun, and seeing them smile," she said, a hidden warmth in her voice, and one at odds with the lifelessness in her gaze. "But… sometimes being around so many ponies, can be really hard_._" The pink pony sniffed. "And sometimes at parties, even with all of my friends around me, I… I don't always have fun."

The unicorn frowned. Pinkie Pie was being completely serious, and although the pink pony didn't appear to be upset or angry, she couldn't help but feel that there was something else. She was _more_ than just sad, and her expression was etched with something deeper than what that one word described.

She almost appeared to be_…_

"I'll try really hard, I really will, but sometimes… I- I just can't have fun. I… I feel…"

_Lost?_

A minute of silence passed between them, the skies having grown a shade darker before the pony in her forelegs spoke again, in a quivering voice.

"Sometimes… having all six of us around… is too many. S-Sometimes, even three is too many," the pink pony continued. She began to tremble. "Sometimes… I-I want to spend time with just _one _of my friends. "Not to throw parties, or to play pranks, but…"

_Or maybe_…

"…just to be with them."

…

_Lonely?_

...

"Pinkie Pie…"

Unconsciously, Twilight tightened her embrace around the whispering pony, whose quaking body immediately went still. There was no resistance from her friend, but instead a quiet sigh, like a fading breeze whisking through the grass.

"Your hugs are always nice, Twilight." The soft utterance caused the unicorn to relax. "They're always so warm, and…"

She paused as a light breeze passed between them. Twilight held tight to the warmth against her body.

"…genuine."

Twilight blinked in confusion, the serene spell around her temporarily broken.

That was a word she could never remember her light-hearted companion ever using before. It was a word that she had seldom heard other ponies use, herself even, and just hearing it spoken in her usually-spirited friend's quiet voice made it sounds all the more strange.

It didn't strike her as a word that was very Pinkie Pie-like.

"You're _always _warm," she continued, interrupting her thoughts. The pink pony closed her eyes. "You're the warmest pony I know. And your hugs, even the short ones… they leave me warm too." A soft yawn escaped her lips. "Sometimes, they leave me warm for days. Just long enough… until we can share another one."

Twilight inhaled slowly, becoming aware of the increasing warmth between them, and the light packets of heat forming on her cheeks. Speechless, and blushing in a way that the unicorn could not explain, she looked down towards Pinkie Pie, who had rested the side of her face against her neck, breathing softly and soundlessly.

She looked so tired… but she looked peaceful. As if she had let out something very burdensome.

Tilting her head forward, Twilight softly exhaled, trying to quell the pounding in her chest. Her thoughts began circling as she silently mouthed the name of the pony she held in the darkness.

'_Pinkie Pie.'_

The words sent an almost imperceptible tickle across her tongue, a pleasant sensation. It almost surprised the unicorn how just her name could invoke something so… unexplainable.

The unicorn smiled. Pinkie Pie had _always_ been the pony who she could never figure out. And yet, she had never truly been a mystery. From day one, Twilight knew exactly what Pinkie Pie was all about. She knew what made Pinkie Pie… Pinkie Pie.

She made ponies happy.

It was as if her entire life was dedicated to that cause. Her cutie mark, her cotton-candy mane, even the way her eyes seemed to sparkle at the sight of a somepony new… _everything _about her seemed to reach out towards a pony, eager to make a new friend.

But it wasn't just making new friends. She kept all of her friends close, treating everypony like her best friend, because everypony _was_ her best friend. She… had _always_ made time to make them happy, and see them smile.

Twilight shut her eyes tight, as her heart began to ache with sudden realization, holding the pink pony tighter in her embrace as she started to tremble. Choking back a sob, she felt hot tears sliding down her cheeks and falling into the pony's pink mane.

"…_just to be with them_."

Even… if ponies didn't always make time for _her_.

The unicorn sniffed, staring out towards the horizon in muted silence_. _Pinkie Pie had always been around when the studious pony had needed a friend most. Not just to invite her to parties, or to play games, but anytime. On more than one occasion had Pinkie Pie pulled her away from a frustrating issue, and found something else for her to take part of, something that usually annoyed her to no end.

And on more than one occasion had the unicorn come back home with a silly smile on her face, and a fresh mind that could tackle nearly every problem that stood in her way.

A gentle smile spread across her face. If Twilight knew _anything _about Pinkie Pie, it was that she loved nothing more than seeing somepony smile, and being around her friends. It didn't matter who or when, Pinkie Pie was always willing to give everything to make her friends happy.

…even her own happiness.

Twilight felt a wave of fresh tears beginning to leak from beneath her eyes. That had always been Pinkie Pie, she never held _anything_ back. Her friends could count on her to say what she was thinking, and what she was feeling at any time.

And most of all, they could count on her to be true to what she loved, and to everything that she did.

She was just so…

A light nuzzle against her neck suddenly made her aware of a vigorous pulse beating between them. The unicorn looked down to the pony asleep in her embrace with a teary blush.

It dawned on her in that very instant… that the word just might be _very_ Pinkie Pie-like.

She looked up into the sky. Through her blurry vision, she could see the stars in the grand sky above the pair. The world around them had gone perfectly still, not even a breeze to tousle the leaves above the quiet pair, so that Twilight's ears could pick up the faint, slow breathing of the pony in her arms.

Gently pulling her friend back a few inches, the unicorn rested her own back against the tree. The sleeping pony unconsciously pressed her nose into her shoulder, filling the weary unicorn's limbs with a pleasant heaviness as she rested her own head against the pink pony's puffy mane. Twilight closed her eyes, feeling one final tear falling away from her cheek.

If anypony deserved to have somepony there for her, it was Pinkie Pie.

She sighed. She had worked hard today, and she could afford to take some time off. Spike wouldn't mind getting to bed early. Besides, it couldn't hurt to spend the night, or even the next day with a friend like her.

With someone so genuine.

* * *

><p>Wow, I've been away from the EqD scene for quite a while. It feels really good to be writing for them again. Or, at least something that they feel comfortable accepting.<p>

*_Wink_*

Anyways, I really appreciate those of you who have been patient with my late updates, _especially_ those of you who are still waiting for the Poetry series to continue. I'm still working on it, so keep your eyes peeled.

I also need to send out a thanks to my two friends, JoeyH3 and Yerxlt, for pre-reading for me, and helping me to actually get this story out on time. They made it happen, folks. (JoeyH3 also made the cover art for this story. What a guy!)

And finally, I owe a _BIG_ thank you to the pre-readers at Equestria Daily for taking the time to read this. I'm sure they've got their hooves full with the massive amounts of submissions they receive on a daily hourly basis.

You guys _are_ the best.

Well, thanks for reading, and feel free to leave a review! Always a treat to hear what you have to say! Until next time, everypony!

Still writing,

~A.P.


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